


Paint Smears

by bjfic_archivist



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Canon, No Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-07-28
Updated: 2003-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-27 04:49:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12073839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bjfic_archivist/pseuds/bjfic_archivist
Summary: Brian comes home from work to an unexpected surprise.





	Paint Smears

**Author's Note:**

> Note from IrishCaelan, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Brian_Justin_Fanfiction_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in September 2017. I posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bjfic/profile).

“What’s this?” 

Two heads shot up at exactly the same time. Both of the tousle-haired artists had wide grins on their faces. Despite his best intentions to remain serious, he couldn’t help but smile back at them. That, of course, got a giggle from the younger of the pair. 

“Care to tell me what you and my son are doing in my living room?” Brian demanded as he slipped out of his jacket. 

“I figured that would be obvious even to you,” Justin taunted, steering Gus’ hand back towards the piece of paper in front of them. 

Brian shot a mock glare in his direction. “Cute. I’d better not find any paint stains on my floor or you’re gonna get it.” 

“Dadda!” Gus chirped, waving his paint-covered hands in Brian’s direction. 

“I see ya, Sonny Boy,” Brian assured the toddler, loosening his tie and tossing it on the couch as he passed it. “Are you and Justin having fun making a mess?” 

Gus nodded emphatically, making as though to climb off Justin’s lap. He was promptly stopped by Justin who wrapped his arms around the little boy’s slim waist and pulled him back down. 

“Stay put, Gus,” Justin told him as he settled the toddler back on his lap. 

Gus pouted for a moment then went back to happily smearing paint on a huge piece of poster paper with cheerful abandon. 

“So why are you and my son making a mess in my living room?” Brian asked as he sat down cross-legged on the far side of Justin and Gus’ masterpiece. 

Justin pretended to look offended for all of two seconds before going back to painting with Gus. “Well, I was working on an abstract project in my studio and Lindsay called me on my cell to see if I could watch Gus for a while because Mel had to work late and she had a parent/teacher conference or something. So I packed up my stuff, picked Gus up and came here. Gus saw the paints and wanted to help me so I grabbed a spare piece of poster paper and we created this. And we’re having lots of fun, aren’t we, Gus?” 

“Jus’n!” Gus cried, turning and slapping a paint-covered hand against Justin’s cheek. 

When the toddler began giggling madly, Justin put a dab of red paint on the very tip of Gus’ nose. Trying to see exactly what Justin had done to him, Gus ended up nearly crossing his eyes in the attempt. 

“Quit teasing my kid,” Brian said, ripping a piece of paper towel off the roll next to them and wiped the paint off of Gus’ nose. “Or I’ll tease you.” 

Justin’s agonized moan cause Brian to burst out laughing. Gus too. 

“Bank oo, Dadda,” Gus said, his attention already once again focused on the bright swirls of colour before him. 

Brian reached out and ruffled his son’s hair. “You’re welcome, Sonny Boy.” He then turned his attention to Justin. “So how is your project going?” 

“It’s over there,” Justin said, jerking his head towards the wall behind him. “I haven’t figured out whether I like it or not, though.” 

Taking the silent plea to give his opinion of the painting, Brian rose from the floor and made his way to the covered canvas on the other side of the room. The instant that he set eyes on the painting, Brian knew exactly what he was looking at. 

It was them. 

A picture of the two of them the night of Gus’ first birthday. Brian knew that no one but him and Justin would be able to properly interpret the swirls of blues and black and white. The two of them were pressed up against each other, Justin’s head tilted back so that their lips were pressed together in a tender kiss. 

“Justin, this is fucking amazing,” Brian murmured, lightly tracing a the light blue curve that made up Justin’s hip on the canvas. 

“No swearing in front of Gus.” 

Brian’s gaze shifted up towards their faces, his eyes following Justin’s arm as it reached to cup the back of his head. “I’m serious, Justin, this is fantastic. You sure you really painted this?” 

“Ha ha, very funny,” Justin shot back, his voice teasing. 

While Brian continued to stare at the picture, he was unaware of Justin’s approach until the younger man was standing next to him. Without tearing his eyes away from the canvas, he reached out and pulled Justin to him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. 

“So you really think it looks okay?” Justin asked somewhat nervously, shifting from foot to foot as he waited for Brian’s answer. 

“It’s better than okay. It’s perfect,” Brian told him honestly. “In fact, it’s going on the wall as soon as you get it back from your professor.” 

It had been nearly a year since the events in the picture had taken place, but to Brian they were just as real as though they had just left the bedroom. He would deny it up and down to anyone who asked, but even then Brian had loved Justin more completely than anyone in his life. Justin knew that he loved him-- Brian made it a point of telling him at least once a day --but that was the extent of his revelation. 

“You’re just being too nice,” Justin protested, staring critically at the canvas. 

Grabbing hold of Justin’s shoulders, Brian turned the younger man towards him. “No, Justin, I’m not. You are an amazing artist and this only proves it. This is beautiful. You know I wouldn’t bullshit you. If I didn’t like the painting I would say so. And I do like it. A lot. So quit worrying and--” 

“Dadda!” 

“What is it, Gus?” Brian called, casually turning his head in the direction of his son’s voice. As soon as he set eyes on the toddler, Brian felt an intense panic well up inside of him. He began stalking towards Gus, a stern look on his face. “Don’t even think about it, Sonny Boy.” 

Gus only began laughing and made to grab at Brian’s duvet. “I paint it, Dadda.” 

“Oh no you don’t,” Brian said with a shake of his head. “You are going to march back down those steps and not touch anything with those hands.” 

Gus screwed his features up, considering his father’s proposal. “Nope.” 

Brian could hear Justin snickering behind him and was hard pressed to keep his attention on his delinquent son. “Gus, get away from the bed.” 

“Wanna paint it,” Gus insisted, grinning from ear to ear. 

Ever so slowly, Brian began to inch his way towards the bedroom. “If you come down I’ll let you have some cookies,” Brian tried, hoping to bribe his son into leaving the bedroom and his expensive duvet. 

Gus’ face lit up at that and he charged out of the bedroom and into Brian’s arms. “Cookies now.” 

Then Gus slapped his hands down on Brian’s back, causing the other man to groan. “There’s paint on my shirt, isn’t there?” he moaned, turning his head in Justin’s direction. 

Justin held up his right hand, his thumb an index finger less than an inch apart. “Just a little. But Gus’ hands are small so there’s not much paint.” 

“Cookies now,” Gus insisted, grabbing hold of Brian’s face and smeared even more paint on his father. 

At that, Justin could no longer hold his laughter in and snickered loudly. Seconds later he let out a loud bark of laughter and doubled over. Glancing conspiratorially at Gus, Brian headed towards the bottles of paint on the floor and picked up a red one. Handing that to Gus, Brian got the blue one for himself and walked over to Justin who was still bent over. With a nod from Brian, the two dumped the bottles of paint on the laughing artist. 

“Ack!” Justin cried, standing up only to have paint dumped down his front. 

 

 

“Brian, Justin, Gus! I’m here!” Lindsay cried as she opened the door to the loft a few hours later. She stepped past the kitchen and made her way into the main area of the loft.... 

And promptly stopped dead in her tracks. 

The living room was covered in smears of paint. The couch, the table, the chairs, the TV the rug. Everything was covered in paint. And in the center of it, Brian, Justin and Gus were sprawled out on the floor, sound asleep. Each of them were covered in paint and smiling as they slept peacefully. 

The only thing left unpainted was a canvas resting up against the far wall which was covered by a white sheet.


End file.
